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Does one become violent by playing computer games It seems that computer games can be used in an unhealthy way with resulting problematic behavior Especially in the United States a range of psychologists have tried to describe the effects of playing by experiments It has proven difficult to design laboratory experiments that provide solid knowledge about long-term effects of computer games however naturally such a conclusion appears highly controversial when discussions on violent images rage The prolonged and excessive use of electronic games contribute to obsessive addictive behaviour dehumanization of the player desensitizing of feelings health problems and development of anti-social behaviours Researchers found that real-life violent computer game play was positively related to aggressive behavior and delinquency The relation was stronger for individuals who are characteristically aggressive and for men About 25 years ago when video games first appeared popular games were simple and apparently harmless In the 1980s arcade games like Pac-Man became dominant In Pac-Man a yellow orb with a mouth raced around the screen chomping up ghosts and goblins At this point some eyebrows were raised questioning whether young people should play such violent games In the 1990s the face of video games changed dramatically The most popular video game of 1993 was Mortal Kombat Elmer-Dewitt 1993 This game features realistically rendered humanoid characters engaging in battle As the name of the game implies the goal of the player in Mortal Kombat is to kill any opponent he faces Unfortunately such violent games now dominate the market Each time people play violent video games they rehearse aggressive scripts that teach and reinforce vigilance for enemies ie hostile perception bias aggressive action against others expectations that others will behave aggressively positive attitudes toward use of violence and beliefs that violent solutions are effective and appropriate Furthermore repeated exposure to graphic scenes of violence is likely to be desensitizing In essence the creation and automatization of these aggression-related knowledge structures and the desensitization

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